Mid-semester+Letter+of+Reflection

March 10, 2011

Dear Dr. McKool,

I am truly grateful for all of the positive experiences I have had in Mrs. Cox’s third grade classroom at Wicoff Elementary School thus far in my internship there. The knowledge I learn in lecture is effortlessly translated into the classroom, and I whiteness the countless number of practices you instruct the class on in every visit by Mrs. Cox and her team teacher, Mrs. Weaver. Suddenly, every reading assignment, assessment, reflection, and so on has purpose when it is applied to my classroom. I have learned a great deal of information and numerous strategies that have secured and prepared me for optimal literacy instruction in read alouds, effective comprehension strategies, the importance of class time to read, reading to ,by, and with, and word study for Mrs. Cox’s class.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned from lecture that I brought to and observed in the field are Read Alouds and the impacts they have on students reading instruction. As you model them for us in every class, I feel that I grow stronger in my prereading, during reading and post reading routines when I do an interactive read aloud in the field. Similarly, as you present a new minilesson with every read aloud you model, supplements for me ideas of what I can teach next to my students through this method. Prior to beginning the course I was unaware of the many elements and benefits that interactive Read Alouds have on students. Making predictions, producing connections, and asking questions are the three most important elements in a read aloud that you convey to us in lecture through modeling and as expressing them as “the only times to stop reading”. These read aloud tools relate to what Chen says about starting to think and talk during a Read Aloud. “In the beginning stages, what children say…may not be completely relevant to the text. The key is to make them accustom to the expectation that they will think and talk during these sessions…Saying something relevant means that students are making some type of connection to the text” (Chen, 39). Students can share ideas, thoughts, questions and connections in a variety of approaches than just talking. As you often have us do in class, we can turn and talk to a partner, or stop and jot what we are thinking, connecting to, and questioning. One on one dialogue and/or recording are both great methods in the early stages of responding to the text, however students need to ultimately learn to operate together as an entire class and receive one another’s ideas, questions, and connections. “One goal of the interactive read aloud is to move toward a whole class conversation where children are listening to each other’s comments” (Chen, 39). I have also recognized the many benefits Read Alouds have on children and particularly English Language Learners. They help students develop new vocabulary, grammar, learn new information, and the English language functions with little to no stress. It is important for English speaking students too in developing word recognition, sharpening comprehension skills, and overall, seeing modeled practices of good reading. Finally, it is enjoyable for students because “ Reading aloud to Children is a wonderful way to invite them into the world of text… Because the teacher is doing the difficult task of reading the text, Children gain access to information they are not capable of getting on their own. This exposure to ideas, words, and experiences begins to inspire children to read” (Chen, 33). I could not agree more when Ms. Cox’s students smile when I announce our read aloud.

The next collection of lessons that I have learned in class and have applied to the field is effective reading comprehension strategies. The reading comprehension strategies I have experienced in my cooperating classroom and that Reutzle and Cooter suggests that we teach are centered around the readers background knowledge, motivating students, graphically organizing the text, questioning strategies, and summarizing to name a few. In checking the students background knowledge, Reutzel and Cooter suggest a KWL chart which you modeled for us just this last Tuesday, and can be used for both informational texts and stories. My cooperating teacher uses this before introducing every unit as a pre assessment so that she can differentiate instruction. Motivation is key in comprehension and I know because if I am not interested in what I’m reading, I will not recall what I have read. “Turner and Paris (1995) discuss six “C’s” of motivation that promote student engagement in the act of reading and comprehending a text: (1) choice, (2) challenge, (3) control, (4) collaboration, (5) construct meaning, and (6) consequences” (R &C, 169). I see this in my classroom through my students independent reads: they should be motivated to read their books because it would be assumed they selected something they enjoyed, hopefully they chose a book that was challenging, they control the amount they read, they may converse with a student’s reading the same book or a book by the same author, they construct meaning from their text, and receive consequences when they don’t read and my cooperating teacher know because students have to log their reading every night. Graphic organizers are another great comprehension strategy that I will in fact be instructing on today in my Folktales lesson. When you break down and organize the carefully selected text into distinct components of the physical features and story structure, comprehension improves. Just as there are different strategies to comprehend the text, there are also a variety of questions you can ask relating to the text and this is another comprehension strategy, questioning. Reutzel and Cooter mention questioning strategies in terms of different levels of thinking, relationships to answers, to the author, and elaborative interrogation. I was fortunate to instruct a QAR (Question Answer Relationship) lesson and now see the added benefits it has a a comprehension strategy as well as a method of questioning because when my students questioned the text with higher level thinking questions, they had a fuller understanding of its meaning. Summarizing or retelling is another important comprehension strategy and the most direct. “Summarizing is important because it helps readers select and store relevant main ideas and details from their reading to form memory structures for text” (R & C, 184). One of the first writer’s workshops my students participated in when I arrived was to summarize their book club books with the added incentive of tracking the main characters development throughout. Students had to recall setting, characters, and the entire plot in order to complete this entry and then served as tangible evidence of their understanding of the text. Comprehension strategies have been varied but highly evident thus far in my classroom.

Another lesson that I have learned from lecture and see in my classroom is the importance of ample class time for students to read self selected texts. Mrs. Cox’s and Mrs. Weaver’s students have what they call Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), also known as Drop Everything and Read (DEAR). Independent reading is extremely for beneficial as students practice word recognition, increase their words read per minute rate, and enjoy reading through it because they are reading the style of book that entices them. “ …allowing students time for unfettered, self-selected silent reading practice will lead to increases in motivation and engagement as compared with other less-motivating reading practices round-robin oral reading and/ or the writing of book reports” (Reutzel & Cooter, 98). Several educators are skeptic of the benefits of SSR and DEAR, but without legitimate time for students to read in school, students otherwise may not get any other opportunities to. Teachers may assign students to read their independent books at home but then there is no validation or monitoring that they actually read. Similarly, teachers have become accustom to establishing SSR after they have completed an assignment. However, the problem with this as you stated in class is that “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. Struggling students will be deprived of enhancing their reading skills because they are less proficient in some if not all subjects. Meanwhile, the advanced student who is already reading above grade level receives the chance to sharpen //their// reading skills even more just because of their academic intelligence. The system simply is unethical and unfair as it does not meet the diverse needs of all its students. Students should be reading 10 to 20 minutes a day as emergent and early readers and 20 to 30 minutes as transitional and self –extending readers. While doing so, children should employing good reading strategies including questioning, making connections, checking their comprehension of the text, and reflecting on it. “We want to highlight the importance of students having ample time for independent practice. Without ample time to practice independently, students will not have opportunities to apply and reinforce that they have learned” (Chen, 26). A classroom that does not allow students the proper allotted time to just sit and read during the school day ultimately are doing a disservice to their students.

Reading to, with, and by was an important concept I learned about and realize is instilled and practiced in my classroom daily. This pleases me to see and hear that my students are receiving models for outstanding reading. “In order to effectively learn to be literate, children need experiences in which teachers model the anticipated behaviors involved in reading and writing” (Chen, 26). Reading to, by, and with helps students do that. I and my cooperating teacher read with students in our interactive read aloud and more specifically model the reading strategies we want them to explore. So for instance, in my QAR lesson, I demonstrated how students should ask each type of question by asking it to myself first and adamantly pointed to my head when I was asking “in my head” questions and the book when demonstrating “In the book” questions. Reading with children is also important and beneficial. Teachers will often read with younger children and in the form of chants or songs to reinforce and support the child’s speech. “When children are constantly immersed in experiences where they are read to and with, this helps them develop strategies and an internal sense of reading that supports them when they are reading by themselves” (Chen, 26). When my children read by themselves, as they do in SSR as mentioned before, they are comfortable for having been scaffolded to that point by reading to and reading with. They have seen good reading being modeled and have practiced good reading with the teacher in guided practice so that when they work alone they feel competent to do so. Reading to, with, and by has been an enlightening philosophy of reading instruction that I am pleased to experience Mrs. Cox’s students successes through it.

One final connection I made from lecture into Mrs. Cox’s class was the unique methods to instruct word study. I have been fortunate to observe an array of approaches to teaching word study in terms of vocabulary and spelling instruction, through games, and in traditional sorts. Vocabulary and spelling coexist as word study in my classroom as Mrs. Cox and Mrs. Weaver generate their own vocabulary words which are also the spelling words and with them they facilitated word study. By combining all three area of study, the words have deeper meaning and students can more effectively enhance their reading and writing skills. “Vocabulary and word use play a central role in the connections that intermediate and advanced readers forge between reading and writing. From adolescence on, most of the new vocabulary student learn… comes from reading and reflects new domains of content specific knowledge… Studying spelling-meaning connections is central to maximizing this vocabulary growth” (Baer, 19).

Word study instruction in my classroom is predominantly instructed two ways, One through games and other interactive activities and another is word sorts. Mrs. Cox has a variety of spelling, vocabulary and word study games including hangman, boggle, and homemade games, which Chen suggest you do rather than go out and purchase board games. The benefit of word playing is that “It provides repeated exposure to words in an enjoyable way. Wordplay helps with retaining words and developing greater receptive and expressive vocabularies” (Chen, 178). This is so true as I see Mrs. Cox’s word study group cheer whenever they are able to play games as their activity for the day and they do not even realize that they are receiving explicit practice and growth in their word knowledge. Lastly, my class always does sorts with spelling/vocabulary words. Mrs. Weaver had implored the strategy of just having her students take out their words and having them figure out a sort that she has in mind. Students love this as they compete to conclude what Mrs. Weaver is thinking. Mrs. Cox had her group sort words by blended sounds recently but they were to sort as many words as they could for the five blends that were //not// their spelling words. The focus on this activity was primarily the blends and recognizing where they occur elsewhere than in their vocabulary terms. “When students sort words, they are engaged in the active process of searching, comparing, contrasting, and analyzing. Word sorts help students organize what they know about words and to form generalizations that they can then apply to new words they encounter in their reading” (Baer, 51). Mrs. Cox and Mrs. Weaver have utilized word sorts to the criteria of Baer in terms of variety and meaning and the student’s responses are evident of the benefits of word sorting. Word study is a significant time in my classroom that has been approached uniquely but and effectively from strategizes I have learned about in class as well as some I was introduced to in the field.

Overall, my time and experiences in Mrs. Cox’s third grade class have been meaningful as lectures have transcended Rider to Wicoff and more specifically, my classroom. I have been the whiteness and practitioner of Read Alouds, Comprehension strategies, Reading to, with, and by, independent reading, and word study. I would not have gained the vast knowledge I have in these areas just by observing however. Through your explicit instruction and modeling, and careful reading and reflecting on the assigned texts, I feel confident and comfortable utilizing theses lessons and more to instruct Mrs. Cox’s class. Thank you for the opportunity and tools to expand my literacy knowledge and teaching skills in secure environments and with your outstanding direction. Best wishes.

Sincerely, Sarah Sell